Malaysia Announces DTV Plans

The Daily Express , the independent national newspaper of East Malaysia, reported that Radio Television Malaysia will begin trial DTV broadcasts in September. The article " RTM to carry out digital TV trial run Sept " quotes Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin, who said the trial would run for six months until

The Daily Express, the independent national newspaper of East Malaysia, reported that Radio Television Malaysia will begin trial DTV broadcasts in September. The article "RTM to carry out digital TV trial run Sept" quotes Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin, who said the trial would run for six months until February for five hours daily -- 7 p.m. until midnight. The digital broadcast will be aired over RTM1, RTM2 and a new channel. Analog TV broadcasts would continue as usual.

Up to 2,000 viewers in the Klang Valley will receive set-top boxes to receive the new broadcasts. The Information Minister said that in addition to normal programming, RTM will test new services including interactive content and data. Viewers will be surveyed and their feedback will help guide government decisions on future actions.

The Minister for Communications and Information Technologies, Ali Abbasov, told journalists last week that Azerbaijan will become the first country in the South Caucasus, and the second in CIS following Russia, to put digital TV on the air. An article on the Trends Azerbaijan Web site quoted Ali Abbasov saying, "At pre

The Times of Malta quoted Malta's Minister for Competitiveness and Communications, Censu Galea, saying that four companies have expressed interest in launching digital terrestrial TV in Malta. The names of the companies were not disclosed, but the article, "Four Companies Interested in Digital Terrestrial TV in Malt

As Japan plans to build the "World's Tallest Tower," the existing Tokyo TV tower in Nagoya is slated for a makeover. Plans for a new 1,968.5-foot tower for terrestrial DTV in the Sumida-Taito area of Tokyo were highlighted in the March 22 edition of RF Report. Now according to the Mainichi Daily News , "Officials d

China has decided to use the DVB-C standard for digital cable TV until a Chinese standard under development is complete. An article, China Decides Digital TV Broadcasting Standard in the Chinese People's Daily said, "Ownership of domestic standards is regarded as critical." To emphasize this, the article pointed out

Asia Media , published by UCLA International's Asia Institute, reported the Hong Kong government will go ahead with a terrestrial DTV plan, even though mainland China has yet to decide what standard it will adopt. The article, Hong Kong: Impatient Government Acts on Digital TV Plan said the government will begin rol